Never reject a crazy idea. Fontbonne Academy friends Kathleen Ryan and KJ Moran ran with theirs, and the result debuts tonight with the first production of the Justice Theatre Company.

“KJ said, ‘Hey listen to this crazy idea I have and tell me what you think,’” said Ryan, 17, of Hingham. “Let’s start a summer theater company that uses theater to bring to light social injustices people don’t think much about.”

The result is an original play, “Shakespeare Behind Bars,” adapted from the memoir of the same name by Jean Trounstine. It’s the story of her experiences with female prisoners in the Massachusetts Correctional Institution-Framingham from 1988-98, where she taught English and directed Shakespeare plays.

Trounstine, now a professor of humanities at Middlesex Community College in Lowell, will participate in a question-and-answer session after tonight’s performance and in a panel discussion following Saturday’s afternoon show.

“I honestly didn’t have too many expectations when the students first contacted me, but I think it’s terrific what they’ve done,” said Trounstine, who recently attended a rehearsal and still works to advance prisoner education. “So few kids I know are really passionate about activism today, and they’re onto something with theater for social justice.”

Like the struggle for social justice, the journey from idea to reality was challenging. Ryan and Moran, of Dedham, wrote a proposal and won their school’s support to use its theater, and they selected the play “The Exonerated,” about death row prisoners whose wrongful sentences were overturned.

But then they hit obstacles. They held auditions but lacked the young men to cast it. They searched for a new play and were moved by the memoir “Shakespeare Behind Bars.” But they had to adapt it for the stage, and for that, they needed and received permission from Trounstine. They, and director Larissa Jeanniton, a Pace University sophomore, worked long days to give voices to the characters and refined the script during rehearsals.

“There were many times when it was daunting and we could have stopped,” said Ryan, a senior who has been involved in theater at Fontbonne since sixth grade. “But we both are very stubborn people and thought we had a great idea. We pushed each other to keep going.”

Ryan and Moran, 19, who will be a freshman at William and Mary College this fall, have roles in the 11-member cast, which includes Cindy Truong of Quincy and Chrissey Whalen of Weymouth.

They’re excited to see not just the audience response to the play, but its participation in the post-show educational sessions. Along with Trounstine, the panel discussion will include a staff member of the Prison Book Project of Quincy, which works to improve educational opportunities for prisoners. The Justice Theatre Company is donating proceeds from the shows and its fundraiser to the Prison Book Project.

Page 2 of 2 - “I hope the audience will realize as I did when I read the book that the women aren’t just scary faces in a jail cell, but people with lives and stories that deserve humanity,” Ryan said. “The (lack of) prison education doesn’t just affect a distant group of people in prison, but everyone, because not providing education costs society.”

Jody Feinberg may be reached at jfeinberg@ledger.comor follow on Twitter @JodyF_Ledger.